Just seven months after hitting a unicorn valuation with a $200 million Series C, NYC-based healthtech startup Ro announced Tuesday it has raised $500 million in fresh funding. The Series D was co-led by existing investors General Catalyst, FirstMark Capital and TQ Ventures.
Launched in 2017, Ro’s platform handles everything healthcare-related, from diagnosis to medication delivery to ongoing care for chronic conditions, through both telehealth and at-home services. This model is intended to provide primary care directly to the consumer, without having to involve outside parties like insurance companies or employer-funded programs. The goal is to reduce the cost of healthcare and give the power back to the patient, says co-founder and CEO Zach Reitano.
“The current healthcare system is working beautifully for insurance companies, but terribly for patients; to pretend otherwise is absolutely ridiculous,” Reitano said in a statement. “Ro is the only company to combine a nationwide telemedicine, pharmacy distribution, and in-home care network. Through its vertically integrated platform, we’re making high-quality care available when and where patients need it, with no insurance required so patients are the ones in control. We’re powering a patient revolution, and we’re just getting started.”
Ro has been especially busy during the pandemic, when affordable, quality healthcare at home is essential. In 2021 alone the startup has partnered with healthcare AI company Gauss to offer smartphone-powered, at-home COVID-19 rapid testing (upon Food and Drug Administration approval), and begun working with New York State’s Department of Health to help administer COVID-19 vaccinations to people right in their homes.
Beyond the pandemic, Ro also has plans to open 10 of its own pharmacies by the end of this year, according to TechCrunch. All of them will be strategically placed around the country to ensure it can provide next-day shipping to patients affordably.
“What Zach and his team have been able to build in less than four years is nothing short of amazing,” Hemant Taneja, a managing partner at General Catalyst, said in a statement. “The team has continuously upleveled their thinking along the way and, as a result, they’ve got the potential to create an outsized positive impact on how we all access healthcare both via the internet and at home.”
Ro plans to use this fresh funding to help scale its capabilities across the board, as well as build new ones, like remote patient monitoring. The company is also hiring, with more than 30 open tech positions at its NYC headquarters.
